Book #72 of 2024: Heroes of Havensong: Dragonboy

[thistlechaser]

Heroes of Havensong: Dragonboy by Megan Reyes.

Quick synopsis: Narrated by an immortal fox telling this story to one of his kits, four young people from different corners of their fantasy world do the best they can to stop a war.

Brief opinion: I can't believe this was a MG book! So well written, a mature story, and longer than usual even for a YA book.

Plot: Four young people:

A stable boy who very briefly becomes a king who then becomes a dragon.

A young master gardener who wanted nothing more than to keep her hands in the soil becomes bonded to a dragon against her will.

A boy who inherited his family's bad luck and debts living under the thumb of a tyrant.

A girl too creative to be bound by her village's "proper behavior" yoke.

The four slowly find each other and through many bumps in the road, tests of trust and loyalty, and assorted hardships have to work together to try to stop the big bad guy from starting a war that could destroy everything.

Writing/editing: Nearly perfect!

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I wish we had seen more of the immortal fox! His story/background was so interesting.

I really enjoyed how "epic" this story was -- how many twists and turns, how long it took things like trust to build, how forgiveness had to be earned (or not gotten at all). This really did not feel like a MG book.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- 5 stars / Loved

Book 2 is out already, but sadly book 3 doesn't come out until sometime in 2025. On to book 2 next!

Comments

[jeane nevarez (from livejournal.com)]

Curious that the dragon's wings on the cover have feathers- they're usually depicted more like bat wings, in all my reading. Did the story describe the dragon that way? (with birdlike wings)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

In the world the book is set in, most dragons are "born" (created sort of, it's a magic thing) as adults, so they look the way we'd expect, with the bat-like wings. But the dragon on the cover (Blue) was born too early, so he's a young dragon (with feathers) instead of an adult with no feathers.

[jeane nevarez (from livejournal.com)]

Interesting!